Psalm CXIII

1 Pkaise ye the Lord.

Praise, 0 ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord.

2 Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore.

3 From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord’s

name is to he praised.

4 The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. 6 Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high,

6 Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the

earth!

7 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the

dunghill,

8 That he may set him with princes, even M’ith the princes of his people.

9 He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of

children.
Praise ye the Lord.

The Jews have handed down the tradition, that this Psalm, and those that follow on to the 118th, were all sung at the

Passover; and they are denominated” The Great HalleV This tradition shews, at all events, that the ancient Jews perceived in these six Psalms some link of close connection. They all sing of God the Redeemer, in some aspect of his redeeming character; and this being so, while they suited the paschal feast, we can see how appropriate they would be in the lips of the Redeemer, in his Upper Room.* Thus —

In Psa. cxiii., he sang praise to Him who redeems from the lowest depth.

In Psa. cxiv., he sang praise to Him who once redeemed Israel, and shall redeem Israel again.

In Psa. cxv., he uttered a song — over earth’s fallen idols — to Him who blesses Israel and the world.

In Psa. cxvi., he sang his resurrection-song of thanksgiving by anticipation.

In Psa. cxvii., he led the song of praise for the great congregation.

In Psa. cxviii. (just before leaving the Upper Room to go to Gethsemane), he poured forth the story of his suffering, conflict, triumph, and glorification.

Our Psalm, then, begins with a twice-repeated invitation to l all God’s servants to join in praise. It is sometimes true, that for the soul, “solitude is best society;” but in the matter of praise, the reverse may be oftenest held. The society of kindred souls is the best help to each individual soul; every voice in the great multitude touches the heart-fibres of yonder sweet singer, as the wind does the ^Eolian harp. Hence it is that so many Psalms begin with “Hallelujah!” calling on others all around to praise — not that the “harper harping with his harp” means to delegate this blessed duty to others, but he seeks to tune his own soul by hearing their voices ascend. The warmth of their hearts fires his own.

The persons invited (ver. 1), to praise, are ‘’Jehovah’s servants;” all those (as Nehemiah i. 10 expands the wordg) whom he has redeemed. The time (ver. 2) for praise is specially

* The term used in Matt. xxvi. 30, is li(j.vri6a7ic,^ the word used in Heb. ii. 12; and by the Sept. for XXTT and Xv occasionally.

“henceforth,” from the date of this redemption. The place (ver. 3, 4) where it is to be celebrated is all the earth, not Israel’s land alone; for all nations are to hear what Jehovah has done on the theatre of that land. The object of praise (ver. 5) is Jehovah, he to whom they sang at the Red Sea, “Who is like unto thee?” (Exod. xv. 11.)

“Who is like to Jehovah our God? Ee who is exalted high, as to his dwelling (o h b-^riXoii Ttaroixuv. — Sept.) He who stoopeth low as to his beholding! (ra, rai’^rhva, stpooov. — Sept.) In heaven, and in earth!” (Ver. 5, 6.)

Then follows the special subject of celebration (ver. 7, 8, 9) — what He does for the fallen. Hannah’s song in 1 Sam. ii. 5, 6, 7, 8, seems kept in view, as well as God’s own words to David, 2 Sam. vii. 8, 9, all to furnish suitable language to express redemption-acts. And the long “barren woman” of verse 9, while it reminds us of Sarah, Eebecca, Rachel, Manoah’s wife, Elizabeth, who all in the end were filled with joy, may point to one and the same period of the world’s history for its full and final illustration, as does Isaiah liv. 1. Isaiah seems expressly to alluds to this Psalm as receiving its fulfilment to the full when Messiah’s work of suffering (Isa. liii.) issues in illimitable blessing to Israel and the world. The redemption celebrated includes glory as well as grace; for we have princes (ver. 8) spoken of, and these “sit” with them, becoming associates of the noble — thus highly exalted, though once fit for the lowest hell. It is an expression parallel to Hannah’s “throne of glory” (2 Sam. ii. 8). And lo! the once barren one of the house “sits a joy ful mother of sons.” Whether we look upon the speaker as Christ praising the Father, or as the Church of Christ, and every member of Christ praising the Father because of Christ, the theme cannot be mistaken. It is

Praise to Ilim who redeems from the lowest depth.

PSALM CXIV. — PllAISE TO HIM WHO REDEEMED ISRAPX. 34-1